G-8 sees Syria rift, boost to EU-U.S. trade pact

Summit highlights differences between Putin and Obama

By

PaulHannon

NicholasWinning

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — The U.S. and the European Union said they would start talks to build a free-trade agreement to boost growth and create jobs across the Atlantic, a deal that officials hope will strengthen the world’s biggest two-way economic relationship.

The talks’ launch — announced Monday at a joint news conference by U.S. President Barack Obama, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron — came as leaders from the Group of Eight nations launched a summit Monday.

Topping the G-8 agenda is the widening rift between Russia and Western countries over how to respond to Syria’s protracted civil war.

Getty Images

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S. President Barack Obama arrive at the G8 venue.

Western leaders arriving in Northern Ireland for the meeting swiftly underlined their differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has criticized plans for the U.S. to begin arming Syrian rebels and dismissed Western allegations that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has attacked opposition forces with sarin gas.

Televised images of Putin and Obama on Monday showed the two leaders staring grimly ahead, without smiling or looking at one another.

A top spokesman for Russia’s Foreign Affairs ministry said earlier Monday that Moscow would not permit a Western-backed no-fly zone over Syria. That presents a potential roadblock to a U.S. military proposal for arming Syrian rebels, which U.S. officials have said could involve creating such a zone along the Jordanian border, where the rebels would be able to receive equipment and training.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Alexander Lukashevich suggested in a news conference Monday that a no-fly zone would be disrespectful of international laws. He said Russia witnessed how Western powers implemented a no-fly zone during the 2011 conflict in Libya.

“We don’t want a repeat of that in relation to the Syrian conflict,” Lukashevich said, according to Russian news agencies. “And I think that we in principle won’t allow such a scenario.”

Syrian President Assad, in what amounted to his first comment on Western plans to arm rebels, warned that doing so would have dire consequences.

“If Europeans deliver weapons, terror will arrive in Europe’s backyard and Europe will pay the price,” Assad said in the interview. The danger, he said, wouldn’t originate from his own forces, but rather from radical jihadist elements who would set their sights on Europe after fighting in Syria.

“Battle-tested terrorists will return to Europe with extremist ideas,” he told the newspaper. “For Europe, there’s no alternative to working with the Syrian state, even if that’s not what Europe wants.”

The Next 24: G-8 Could Change Oil Calculus

(2:34)

Korn/Ferry reports after the bell. Amid rising tensions in Syria, the G-8 may be an occasion to remind markets that they have the option to release strategic reserves. XHB could keep rallying. Victor Reklaitis breaks down the next 24 hours of trading.

Putin was also due Monday to hold bilateral meetings with Western leaders, including French President Francois Hollande and Obama, who were expected to press him to scale back his support for the Assad regime.

Obama also urged residents of Northern Ireland to preserve the fragile peace agreement reached 15 years ago, drawing a historical comparison with America’s efforts to overcome racial divisions following the Civil War.

The trade talks’ first round will take place next month in Washington, D.C.

U.S. and EU officials hope that by launching the talks, they will deliver a boost to confidence for businesses and workers that will help support what has been a disappointing recovery from the recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

“Global economic prospects remain weak,” the G-8 leaders said in a statement following the first session of their two-day gathering. They added that they were committed to “exploiting all sources of growth.”

EU ministers opened the way for the trade announcement Friday, when they overcame differences between France and its partners over how a sweeping trade and investment pact could potentially affect subsidies for filmmakers and other artists.

Officials see an ambitious deal that will largely eliminate trade tariffs and harmonize regulations across a broad range of industries, greasing the gears of trans-Atlantic trade and investment.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.